


Resolution

by Yatorihell



Series: In The Darkness [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, ノラガミ | Noragami
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10602003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatorihell/pseuds/Yatorihell
Summary: Aftermath of the Halloween incident and Yato's lack of social skills.Thank you to Ina (leopah) for beta-ing me!Dedicated to Jo, happy birthday!!!!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JoKay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoKay/gifts).



“So, the troll just… fainted?”

“Yep.”

Professor Tenjin looked at Yato, obviously not believing the lie. He arched his fingers together, elbows resting on the broad oak desk as he turned his gaze between the two students in front of him. Hiyori, dishevelled, fidgeted in her seat, trying to look as innocent as possible under the gazes of both the headmaster and Professor Tsuyu, both of whom were clearly unimpressed. Yato, on the other hand, accustomed to being in this particular office, was disinterested and more or less unfazed by the feat they had just pulled off.

“And you just happened to be in the girls’ bathroom?” Professor Tsuyu asked. Hiyori’s head snapped to Yato, who was unbothered by this fact. He folded his arms and leaned back, reclining until he could comfortably stretch his legs out.

“I was passing by on the way to my dorm. I heard someone in trouble, so I went to help.” Yato jutted his chin to Hiyori who still looked aghast at how he was addressing her Head of House. “She can back me up.”

Both teachers turned their attention to Hiyori who stared back at them in bewilderment. When they had been escorted from the destroyed bathroom, Yato pulled her out of earshot and urgently whispered, “Don’t mention what magic I used, let me do the talking.” He wasn’t asking her to lie, but to cover for him.

“Y-yes. The troll came into the bathroom and I couldn’t get out, and, um, Yato came in and…” Hiyori cut herself off, realising that she was supposed to be covering him. Even though she hated deceiving people, she sort of owed him for saving her life. “…and then the troll just fell over, knocked out.”

She felt Yato’s eyes on her but kept eye contact with Professor Tenjin, determined to make him believe her. After a moment, he closed his eyes, sighing.

“Ok.” He said.

“Ok?” Yato echoed.

“Ok, you can go. Professor Tsuyu, take Hiyori to the infirmary to get those cuts seen to. Yato, I’ll take you back to your dormitory.”

Pushing his chair back, he stood up and walked to the door, the others following his lead. Professor Tsuyu bid the headmaster good night, walking briskly down the dim corridor. Hiyori followed in her wake after she too had bid him – and Yato– good night. Tenjin waved them goodnight, escorting Yato to his dorm room in the opposite direction. Yato dawdled behind him, hands shoved in his pocket as he waited for the real reprimanding to begin.

“I see you made a new friend,” Tenjin commented, turning his head as he caught Yato’s attention. Yato glanced at him warily, pale moonlight reflecting off the silver of the professor’s hair and glinting in his amused brown eyes.

“If that’s what you call friendship,” Yato scoffed. The Gryffindor girl had seldom spoken to him and narrowly managed to keep a lid on his secret before vanishing again; they were hardly even acquaintances.

“You saved her. That’s what friends do.” Tenjin chuckled softly, turning back to the path ahead. “Something else you should do is go to your classes.”

Yato grunted in response, feet scuffing a loose stone. This was the headmaster’s favourite lecture, alongside “Stay out of the Forbidden Forest” and “Stop breaking into the caretaker’s office; if Kiun confiscated your broom for flying indoors, it’s your mistake.”

“Why study something I already know?” Yato argued. To his relief, he could see they had reached the staircase to the dungeons, meaning this particular lecture was about to be cut short.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Tenjin replied with a wise nod. Without it, our world would have fallen into darkness long ago – and it still might.”

Yato scowled at the pointedness evident in his teacher’s voice, and how he was trying to bring up the past. Instead, he marched past Tenjin, descending the stairs without a word. His footsteps resounded in the damp hallways as the headmaster’s words churned in his head. _Change the world? Maybe the world doesn’t need changing. Maybe people should change._

 

~

 

November rolled in with the same grey skies and lashing rain that had hung over the castle since the Halloween incident. In that time, neither Yato nor Hiyori had sought each other out or crossed paths. Perhaps because Yato was now being monitored by an array of teachers to ensure he attended his classes, leaving no time for him to loiter outside her class – not that he had reason to anymore. As for Hiyori, she was relieved that she didn’t have to watch her back anymore in case he was shadowing her. They had seemed to come to an understanding in the bathroom, so there was no reason for them to clash again. Besides that, the anticipation of Quidditch season had the school in a frenzy as the first match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was about to take place.

By eleven on a bleak Saturday morning, the whole school had crammed into the podiums that surrounded the Quidditch pitch. Now packed with students and teachers alike bundled up in coats and woolly hats, the stalls were full of cheers and banners as the teams entered the pitch. Far above in the highest row of one of the towers, Hiyori, Aimi and Yama shared a pair of binoculars to get a look at the players as they gathered around the ant-sized referee who began the pre-game pep talk.

A Hufflepuff commentator, chosen as to not have favouritism for his own House, explained the game to the audience, much to Hiyori’s interest, as she had never seen a game. He explained how that whoever won this match would move up to second place in the House Championship – _kind of like a wrestling tournament,_ Hiyori thought. As he continued to commentate, the players mounted their brooms and two round objects flew out of a chest that the referee had opened.

“The Bludgers are up,” the Hufflepuff announced just as a hint of gold flashed in the sunlight, “and the Golden Snitch is released. Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch wins the game.” Hiyori tried to keep track of the small golden orb, but it had vanished from sight. Her attention was brought back to the pitch as the players hovered in the air in anticipation, waiting for a sharp whistle to announce the start of the game. A large ball was thrown high into the air.

“The Quaffle is released and the game begins! Gryffindor takes possession of the Quaffle – Tsuguha passes to – no, Slytherin intercepts – Bri takes the Quaffle – an expert dodge away from that Bludger – she’s nearly at the goalposts – wait, Gryffindor’s Keeper has blocked it, fantastic!”

Hiyori watched in awe as the players zipped through the air, scarlet and emerald robes streaming out behind them as they swerved and dodged Bludgers and Beaters. Every time a player would come close to the stand, she leaned over the edge to try and get a better look at their brooms, admiring the curve of polished wood and brass mountings for a split second before they were gone again. Her eyes fell on Bishamon, Gryffindor’s Seeker, as she hovered above the pitch, watching the game unfold. Occasionally she would snap her head in multiple directions as if something had caught her attention. The commentary continued throughout the game, and began to highlight most Slytherin’s constant fouling.

“Gryffindor in possession. Pip passes to Aiha – OH, A BLUDGER TO THE FACE, SHE’S DOWN! – Slytherin steals Quaffle, Blue passes to Anna, Anna tries for the goal and – score!”

Gryffindor House screamed in outrage, demanding points deducted for knocking one of their team unconscious. Hiyori sighed; Aimi muttered “Oh dear” under her breath whilst Yama revelled in the drama, watching the scene unfold through the binoculars she hadn’t removed from her face since the match started.

A sudden cry went up from the crowd as a green streak darted across the pitch, lying low to its broom in pursuit of something unseen. It was pursued by a red and gold blur – Bishamon.

“It’s the Snitch!” Yama yelled, gripping the binoculars. “Look at that Slytherin Seeker! He’s going to get it!”

“Let me see!” Hiyori pleaded, desperate for Yama to stop hogging the binoculars and let her watch the game properly. Yama thrust them at her, a strange, wide grin on her face.

Hiyori focused her vision, searching for the Seeker before finding him dangerously low to the ground, standing on his broom like a surfboard with his arm outstretched. The broom caught her attention the most, not because of the way it was ridden or how much it was shaking, but because it was the fastest, newest broom in the world – the Nimbus 2000. Her breath hitched at the elegant golden writing on the handle, but just then the broom shook violently. She glanced up at the Slytherin, his face in deep concentration as he focused on the Snitch fluttering just out of his reach, dark hair whipping around his face as the wind fought to knock him over.

 _It can’t be…,_ she breathed. With one tiny step, he fell forward, tilting the broom off course and crashing to the ground in a spectacular heap. Hiyori gasped, watching him lie motionless on the ground for a moment. Then he stirred slowly, pushing himself up onto his knees whilst his arm hung limp at his side. He spat something out, catching it with his other hand. Something shiny.

“Yato has caught the golden Snitch! Slytherin wins!” the Hufflepuff shouted, causing a mass of booing to erupt from the crowd, drowning out the Slytherin fans’ cheering. Hiyori dropped the binoculars, open-mouthed and staring at the pitch.

“Yato?” Aimi called over the din of the stadium. “Isn’t that the guy that saved you from the troll, Hiyori?” Hiyori had saved the real story for her friends, telling them about how Yato had found her on Halloween and saved her from the troll, and their resolution. She looked at Aimi and nodded slowly.

“It’s her admirer!” Yama shouted. “I knew it was him as soon as I saw that hair! Hiyori, you must talk to him! Quidditch Captain, a troll slayer, what more could you want?!” Yama had yet again dissolved away from reality, imagining a world where she had brought her friend and her ex-stalker together, a faraway look in her eyes. Aimi picked up Yama’s binoculars from the ground, peering down onto the pitch.

“Looks like he’s hurt,” she said. Yato was walked off the pitch by a teacher, holding his arm against his side as he walked away with a slight limp. Hiyori looked back down at the pitch, nearly clear as the teams and podiums began to vacate. The clouds that had promised rain since they had arrived finally split open, blurring out all view of the pitch and Yato as rain pelted Hiyori and her friends relentlessly. The rain washed away all thoughts of the Seeker, and they yelped and ran into the dryness of the stairwell.

 

~

 

“Are you serious?”

Yukine had taken one step out of the classroom door only to be greeted by someone he thought he’d been rid of. Yato, the “Hero Seeker” who had “severely injured his arm” in last weekend’s Quidditch match, was outside of his class; arm cocooned in a sling, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Yukine stared at Yato with an incredulous expression at the new low he had stooped to.

“You didn’t even break it. I know you had that mended in the infirmary as soon as you got off the pitch,” Yukine said, eyes narrowed at the smug look Yato gave him.

“Injured arm means no writing,” Yato shot back, dumping his bag on the ground and leaning against the wall. “If I can’t write, then there’s no point in going to class.”

“Have you tried listening, or do you prefer to do all the talking?” Yukine scowled at him. The rest of his classmates had trickled out into the corridor, on their way to their next classes. He turned to walk away as well, but a voice from behind called out to him.

“Yukine, you forgot….” Hiyori’s words died on her lips as she saw Yato standing opposite her. Her arm was extended to Yukine, a piece of parchment he’d left on his desk in her hand, but her attention was now focused on Yato.

“Long time no see,” Yato said, flashing her a winning smile. He noticed her eyes fall on his bandaged arm, and decided to play it up. “Broken. Nasty Quidditch accident on the weekend. Nurses couldn’t fix it with magic, so it won’t heal for a while.”

Yukine snorted, stepping forward to take the paper from Hiyori’s outstretched hand.

“I-I saw, I was watching the match,” Hiyori replied, dragging her gaze back to his face. Behind her, two more figures shuffled into view. A Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw, Yato noticed.

“Oh my God, it’s him!” the Hufflepuff loudly whispered in Hiyori’s ear, unable to contain her excitement. Yato shot her a look, but it seemed to melt her entirely.

“Didn’t the nurses fix your arm?” the Ravenclaw asked doubtfully, eyeing his arm sling.

Yato let out a dramatic sigh. “It was too badly hurt to fix.”

“Well, get well soon,” Hiyori sounded uncertain. “Let’s go.”

Hiyori began walking away. Her friends trailed behind her, still wanting to talk to her stalker/admirer. Yato looked at Hiyori as she left, trying to think of something to say that would make her stay a bit longer. An idea struck him.

“Yukine, I can’t carry my bag, it’s too heavy and it might damage my arm more,” he said loudly, looking out of the corner of his eye at the three girls. The Hufflepuff slowed down to listen in. Perfect. “Can you carry it for me?”

The Hufflepuff spun around. “Hiyori will carry your bag!” she announced, grabbing Hiyori’s hand and stopping her in her tracks.

“Wha-?” Hiyori said, dazed and mildly horrified.

“To repay you,” the Ravenclaw chimed in.

“For the troll thing.”

“We know all about it.”

“Oh? Well, if you insist.” Yato said, hiding a grin.

“I don’t –”

“She does!” Yama pulled Hiyori forward and gave her a gentle shove toward Yato. Yukine glanced between the two of them, deciding that it was time for him to make his exit.

“See you.” Walking past the two girls, who also apparently decided it was the perfect time to abandon their friend, Yukine made himself scarce, leaving Hiyori alone with the hindrance she couldn’t seem to get rid of. Hiyori opened her mouth to protest but closed it again, seeing the speed Yukine and her friends had put on to get make their getaway. She looked back at Yato. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“You’ll be late to your class if we stand around here all day,” he said pointedly, knowing that first-years were more skittish about being late to class.

Hiyori exhaled, defeated. She picked up Yato’s bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder along with her own bag. “Where’s your class?”

“Third floor.” Yato turned on his heel, briskly walking in the direction of the main staircase. Hiyori stared after him, anger bubbling at his smugness at having her as his personal assistant.

The main staircase was overflowing with students jostling each other as they made their way to their next classes, trying to catch the various staircases before they moved away. Yato’s strides were longer than Hiyori’s, leaving her struggling to keep up while trying to manage both of their bags at the same time.

“Sorry, excuse me, sorry,” she said. She pushed through the crowd, trying to keep Yato in her sights as they headed up the staircase. Her height was a disadvantage amongst the older, taller students who blocked her view, causing her lose sight of Yato altogether.

 _Third floor,_ Hiyori reminded herself, turning onto the left-hand staircase where she had had a few of her classes, in the bigger lecture halls. Only a handful of students had taken the same path as her, but none of them were Yato. These students’ classes seemed to be in the east wing, rather that the north wing of the castle, which was where she had ended up. The echoing of their footsteps moved further away, giving no option to ask for directions – not that she knew exactly where the class was. She looked around uncertainly, hoping to see Yato waiting for her at one of the classroom doors. Nothing.

“Dammit,” she hissed, anxious. She knew the warning bell was going to ring at any moment.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Mudblood,” a chilling voice called from behind her. She froze. Please, not them.

“Aren’t you going to say hello?” Someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, pushing her so her back was against the wall. A hand slammed next to her head, trapping her in its grasp. Hiyori looked up fearfully. It was the same Slytherin that had ruined her books on Halloween. He was alone this time, but she was no less afraid of him.

He leered at her as he towered over her, and she wilted against the wall, small and defenceless. She looked at the ground, holding back tears and keeping a determined silence. _Don’t fight back, don’t fight back._

“Oh, got some extra books? Is magic too hard for you, Mudblood?” he sneered, looking at Yato’s satchel which she gripped tightly, hand shaking as she did so. He leaned in closer.

“Want me to put some revision notes in your book again? Or are you just a Squib?” A sickening grin was on his face as his hand snatched Hiyori’s wrist.

“Let her go.”

Hiyori’s head snapped up at the familiar voice, a feeling of strange relief flooding through her. Yato. Her relief was short-lived, however, since as soon as she sees him she also notices that he’s all better.

His arm had escaped its sling, apparently cured as he pointed his wand at his housemate’s back. His face was expressionless, but the steely look in his blue eyes sent a shiver down Hiyori’s spine. The bully’s grin slipped off his face the moment he turned his head and saw Yato behind him, at the ready for a duel. He dropped Hiyori’s wrist, taking a step back and away from Yato, whose wand stayed trained on him. He then smirked, looking between the two, as if amused by their relationship, before sauntering down the corridor and out of sight.

Hiyori let out a shaky breath she didn’t realise she had been holding in. The tension left her body, leaving her legs feeling weak. Yato lowered his wand, glancing at Hiyori in concern.

“Are you okay?”

He took a cautious step towards her, and she glared at him. She was illuminated by a pool of afternoon sunshine, lighting up her face to show her eyes were moist as if on the brink of tears. She stared at him, then down at his arm, then back at his face. Confused, Yato looked down at his wand hand before the realisation dawned on him that his cover was blown.

“Ah, um, you see –” he began, trying to find an acceptable excuse as to how his arm had unexpectedly healed, or that he had been faking to get out of class. Hiyori’s scathing voice cut through his feeble protests.

“You aren’t even hurt…!” she cried, dropping his bag on the ground in disgust.

“Well, technically –”

“You lied to me!”

“Not exactly, I just implied that –” Yato stumbled over his words, grasping at straws as Hiyori became more emotional. Hiyori’s composure slipped, her shoulders starting to shake as she tried, and failed, to stop the tears coming. _Shit,_ Yato thought, frantically trying to think of something to say. No ideas of solstice came to him to comfort her. He tried to offer an excuse, a way to downplay the situation. “It was just a joke.”

“Do you think this is a joke?” she whispered, trying to hide the way her voice shook as Yato stared at her in bewilderment. “Did you think that that–” she gestured in the direction of where the Slytherin had gone– “was a joke?”

The warning bell drowned out any condolences Yato could offer, leaving Hiyori answerless as the ringing resounded through the hallway. Hiyori stormed past him, hair hiding her face as she ran to the staircase as if he himself were the bully.  Yato stared after her, unsure if he should follow or not. No doubt she would be late for her own class now, regardless of what he did.

“I’m sorry!” he called after her. The words tasted stale in his mouth, unused. She ignored him, vanishing down the staircase. He scooped up his discarded satchel and jogged after her, but stopped to lean over the banister and watch her. He could see her roughly dragging a hand across her eyes before disappearing into a lower hallway without so much as a backward glance.

Yato folded his arms on the stone railing and stared at the doorway she had gone through, all thoughts of going to class forgotten. Professor Tenjin’s lecture came back to him, about how friends saved each other. He had done that, but...were friends supposed to make each other cry?

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't stop hurting my children I'm sorry. Yato, how will you fix this?
> 
> \- The Quidditch players are characters as well as my friends from Tumblr (briirens, paperypiper, wolfisyatotrash, shadownightes and kiun)


End file.
